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October 25, 2010
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Protesters decry officer-involved shootings by Sean P. Wynne seanpw@unm.edu
About 80 protestors lined the streets downtown Friday to call attention to the number of APD officer-involved shootings this year. Andres Barros organized a protest in response to the mid-August death of his friend Enrique Carrasco. Carrasco was the seventh person killed in an officer-involved shooting in Albuquerque this year. “It doesn’t matter what you’ve done in the past,” Barros said. “We are all human beings and we do not deserve to be shot down like animals. APD is the biggest gang in the city.” Protestors criticized APD fatalities outside the police station on Fourth Street and Roma Avenue. Andreas Valdez of Vocinos Unidos said his organization has been addressing police brutality for 20 years. He said the Albuquerque City Council
“It doesn’t matter what you’ve done in the past. We are all human beings and we do not deserve to be shot down like animals.” ~Andres Barros Protest organizer hasn’t done enough to hold APD accountable for its conduct. “Oh boy, do we have our work cut out for us,” he said. “That is to say, if we want real police accountability, we’re going to have to get people in City Council to truly represent our interests.” Three police officers patrolled the rally, but refused to comment about it. Trish Hoffman, APD’s public
Dylan Smith / Daily Lobo John Lelei applauds protestors during a rally against police brutality Friday. Lelei’s stepfather and brother were killed by APD officers on June 5, 2007, and the boy’s T-shirt is in memory of his stepfather. information officer, did not respond to calls Friday. David Warner said APD didn’t properly investigate the robbing and murder of his 21-year-old son. He said he is on a mission to draw attention to APD’s handling of the case. “Every March, on March 8, I walk
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from Ruidoso to Santa Fe to speak to the governor. It’s supposed to be 225 miles. I call it the ‘walk of injustice.’ I’ve walked it two years in a row so far, and I’ll be walking it again next year.” Vernon Butler, a representative for Advocates for Equity, said APD has unfairly targeted people.
San Diego State defensive coordinator Rocky Long applauds on the sideline at University Stadium. Long is a former UNM head coach who spent 11 seasons as the face of Lobo football. See back page for full story. Vanessa Sanchez Daily Lobo
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Soldiering on See page 7
“No. 1, they may be the biggest gang, but we pay their salaries,” he said. “It is not against the law to be mentally ill. It is not against the law to be behind the wheel of a car driving it while you are a person of color. It is not against the law nor is it unreasonable in any stretch of the imagination to demand what it is
that they’re supposed to do.” Darcy Brazen, one of the protest organizers, said it’s important to point out that not all police officers engage in brutality. “We want to stress that we’re not anti-cop; we’re anti-police brutality,” he said.
2010 fiesta attendance inflated since last year by Shaun Griswold shaun24@unm.edu
The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta saw increased attendance for a third straight year. The fiesta had more than 811,000 visitors, nearly 50,000 more than last year’s event, said Kathie Leyendecker, a balloon fiesta spokeswoman. She said sunny weather factored into the spike in attendance. “The weather was incredibly warm this year,” Leyendecker said. “It felt like the great fall weather that makes October in New Mexico (made for) perfect weather for balloonists.” In 2009, the fiesta sold almost 762,000 tickets, compared to more than 702,000 in 2008. The 899,000 attendance record was set in 2007. “Last year we had weather-related issues,” Leyendecker said. “We were rained out and blown out.” This time around, weather did not interrupt events, with the exception of a
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lightning storm, which affected a balloon glow on the first Saturday of the event. Increased attendance, however, caused other issues. Anna Mays went to an early-morning mass ascension and an evening balloon glow with her husband and two kids this year. She said it was difficult to find parking. “We drove last year, and the parking was horrible,” she said. “We decided to take the Park & Ride from Rio Rancho, but were turned away because there were too many people, so we still had to drive.” At peak time, others using Park & Ride said they waited for more than an hour until they got back to their cars. Fiesta officials said the Park & Ride program saw a 15 percent increase from last year. Mays said she hopes fiesta officials take that into consideration when planning for next year’s event.
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